wildlands

A new Bureau of Land Management policy that protects millions of acres of wilderness quality lands across the West has come under attack. Public support of the BLM’s Wild Lands policy is important because this new policy is our best shot at protecting many lands that we have fought to defend from degradation and abuse during the Bush administration.

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The House Natural Resources Committee held their first oversight hearing on the Wild Lands policy that was issued in late 2010. I flew out from my home in Boise, Idaho to see the hearing first hand and to try and restore some balance to the conversation.

Unique and previously unprotected places like New Mexico’s Otero Mesa grasslands, Wyoming’s Adobe Town badlands and Utah’s red rock canyons have a new chance at receiving protections they need and deserve.

This year Christmas came a little early for all Americans who treasure our public lands, when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar delivered a new policy for protecting wilderness-quality areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Secretarial Order effectively puts an end to the second class status of wilderness on our public lands that was ushered in by the Bush administration’s “no more wilderness” policy.

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One of the great things about going on Idaho Public Television to talk about wilderness in the 21st century is that we’re building on success. When IPTV asked me to go on camera in a five person round-table show called “Dialogue”, the central question was whether we need more wilderness. The answer, of course, yes. (Watch the Dialogue episode.)

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People throughout Idaho rallied to add 517,000 acres of our state’s rugged Owyhee Canyonlands to the National Wilderness Preservation System in 2010, breaking a generation-long drought of wilderness designation in Idaho. During the previous 30 years, not a single acre of wilderness had been designated in Idaho -- despite the fact that the state has more candidate wildlands than any state outside Alaska.

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Pat yourself on the back if you sent Congress a letter in support of wilderness and wildlands protections last month. Thanks to you and our other WildAlert members, we are much better positioned for scoring wildlands victories in what is expected to be a very active post-electoral session of Congress.